What’s in a name?

First English names 

In some cultures, the relationship between first names and vocabulary words is transparent, that is the names are just special uses of ordinary words. This is not the case for English names (or for those in most Western European languages). English names are mostly opaque, that is the 'meaning' is not obvious and is to be found in languages other than modern English, often ancient languages no longer spoken (such as Latin or Ancient Greek). 
Therefore parents choosing an English name for their child rarely do so because of the 'meaning' of the name, but for reasons of polyphony (they like the sound of the the name) or personality (the name reminds them of a relative, close friend or person in the public domain). In spite of this opacity, virtually all English first names do have definite meanings which reflect their origins. 
The first source for names used in Britain and throughout the English-speaking world is the Bible - male names like Adam, Benjamin, David, Jacob, Joseph and female names like Deborah, Eve, Rebecca, Ruth, Sarah. In fact, Sarah has given rise to other names - Sadie and Sally both started as pet forms of Sarah and then became names in their own right. The New Testament gave us the names of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the apostles, principally Peter, James, Andrew, Thomas, Philip, Bartholomew, John and Simon. 
Many English first names (like those of many other European countries) are derived from the names of saints - such as Anthony, Christopher, Francis, George, Gregory, Stephen for men and Catherine, Ann, Bernadette, Mary, Jane, Teresa for women. 
Another source of 'English' first names is the Celtic tradition. Barry, Brian, Bridget, Donald, Duncan, Ian, Kenneth, Kevin, Neil and Sheila come from Irish and Scottish Gaelic, while Gareth, Gladys, Gwendolen and Trevor come from Welsh - all these being Anglicisations of the original Celtic names. 
Other 'English' names were brought to the country through invasion. Scandinavian exports include Eric, Arnold and Ronald. The Normans of north-west France brought many names to England as a result of the invasion of 1066. 
This invasion was the route for many pre-Christian Germanic (usually male) names to reach England - such as Charles, Henry, Robert and William. For example, my first name Roger was brought to England by the Normans - it comes from two Germanic words meaning 'fame' and 'spear'. The name Richard was brought to England by the Normans and comes from two Germanic words meaning 'power' and 'strong'. Incidentally such Germanic names are known as 'dithematic' - that is, they consist of two vocabulary elements. English female names with this Germanic origin are much fewer in number, but include Alice and Emma. 
Some first names have been adopted from family names. Take, for instance, the name Digby. This is sometimes used (mainly by middle-class families) as a first name but started as a surname. It refers to Digby in Lincolnshire and comes from Old Norse words 'diki' (meaning 'ditch') and 'byr' (meaning 'settlement'). 
It is true, that although we have a wide variety of first names, the same ones reoccur very frequently. The 10 most common first names of Britons alive today are in the table (Appendix 1).
Of course, names change in popularity. According to the data compiled annually by the Office of National Statistics (ONS the most popular names for children born in England & Wales during 2016 in Appendix 2).
First of all, astonishingly the most popular boys' name and the second most popular girls' name are essentially the same (Oliver and Olivia) - what is technically known as cognates - and these names have been in the top two for their gender for the last six years. Is this the case in any other nation? Second, it is striking how traditional most of the names are for both boys and girls, although for the boys it is interesting that the familiar form of names rather than the original version is often preferred - Jack instead of John, Harry instead of Harold, Charlie instead of Charles, Alfie instead of Alfred, Archie instead of Archibold, Freddie instead of Frederick. Third, in the case of boys, five of the top 20 names begin with the letter 'J' while, in the case of girls, 10 of the top 20 names end with the letter 'a', seven of the top 20 names end with the sound 'ee', and ten of the top 20 names contain the letter 'l' (in four cases, twice). 
On the other hand, the name John, which is the most common male name in the Britain, is nowhere in the top 100 names in the last listings, while David - which is the second most common name in Britain - slipped out of the top 50 of names chosen for baby boys born in 2004 and has only just come back (it is currently 50th). Similarly Margaret - the most common female name in the population as a whole - does not even appear in the top 100 names chosen for girls these days, while Susan - the second most common name in Britain - is not even in the top 100. 
These observations underline how much fashion shapes the popularity of different names. Fashion is a stronger influence with girls' names than those of boys. So, for example, in the last 10 years (2006-2016) Lexi is up 724 places to 64, Ivy is up 704 places to number 54, Violet is up 538 places to 71, Bella is up 462 places to 52, and Elsie is up 387 places to 32. 
It should be noted that the Office of National Statistics (ONS) produces its ranking of the popularity of names using the exact spelling of the name given at birth registration. If one combines the numbers for names with very similar spellings, a very different picture is revealed. For boys, combining the occurrence of Mohammed, Muhammad, Mohammad & Muhammed plus eight other spellings of the names would put it in first place - a reflection of the changing ethnicity of the British population and the powerful trend for Muslim families to name their son after the Prophet. Similarly, if one combines the occurrence of Isabella, Isabelle, Isabel and Isobel, one would find the name top of the girls' list and, if one took Lily and Lilly together, the name would come third. 
For some girls (but, for some reason, not boys), one first name is not enough and they are called names like Ann-Marie or Sally-Ann or Sarah-Jane. An occasional complication is that, since English pronunciation is so irregular, it is possible to have names that are pronounced identically but spelt differently - such as Brian/Bryan, Rachel/Rachael, Ann/Anne, Carol/Carole or Catherine/Katherine/Katharine/Kathryn or (even worse, because of the different genders) Francis (male)/Frances (female) or Robin (male)/Robyn (female) or Leslie (usually male, but can be female!)/Lesley (usually female, but can be male!). Indeed there are a small number of names that can be used for a boy or a girl - such as the aformentioned Leslie plus Hilary, Dale and Carol. 
Names are very influenced by fashion. Some names fall out of fashion - a man called Alfred, Arthur, Basil, Percy or Horace or a woman called Bessie, Dorothy, Mavis, Nellie, Ruby or Vera is probably in his/her 60s, 70s or 80s (although Ruby has just jumped back into popularity). Some names come into fashion, typically because of the popularity of a pop, movie or sports star. The Australian soap opera "Neighbours" - in which a young Kylie Minogue played a character called Charlene - led to the temporary popularity of both Kylie and Charlene in both Britain and Australia. Some names come in and out of fashion. A good illustration is Emily: a third of all Emilys are aged over 60, but more than 40% are under 25. 
As a general rule, in recent decades British parents have become more selective in chosing names for their children. In 18th century England, roughly a quarter of babies were called either John or Mary but, from the 1960s onwards, parents have been more inclined to chose names that enable their children to stand out rather than fit in. 
Importantly, in Britain the choice of names is very influenced by class. A boy called Jason or Wayne or Darren or a girl called Sharon or Tracy or Michelle is almost certainly from a working class family. A boy called Charles, Edward or Nigel or a girl called Felicity or Harriet is almost certainly from a middle-class family. A boy called Jasper, Rufus or Rupert or a girl called Camilla, Davina, Jemima, Lucinda or Petunia is probably from an upper class family. 
Another powerful influence on names is immigration. The UK has had successive waves of immigration - from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, parts of Africa and so on - and this has added to the stock of names in this country. Someone called Winston is probably from a family of West Indian origin, while someone called Lakshmi will be from a family from India. 
A final point about first names: the British - and other Anglo-Saxon and European nations - often give their children more than one 'first' name. Upper class families frequently give their children three first names. There is no rule, but it is a powerful convention that such second or third names are family names, such as that of a grandparent or other close relative. Sometimes children find that they prefer the second name to the first name and ask people to use that one instead.

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